You guys are gonna love this.

1946Zephyr · Nov 4, 2011

I just called a guy today about a a free boat with motor and stuff. I told him that I wasn't really interested in the boat, but would be willing to offer him cash for the motor. Well, it turns out that he offered to sell me three motors in a package deal. I got the pics of all three motors and they all look pretty decent. There is a 1958 Lark, 1961 Lark III and a 1962 Lark IV.

These will be a nice way to get my hands dirty and have some fun tinkering.

Rick. · Nov 4, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Have you no will power at all? LOL. Good find. Best of luck. Rick.

1946Zephyr · Nov 4, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Nahhh. I'm a sucker for good deals.

I kinda like these old Larks. Having the '59 Johnson RDSL here already, this will make four of these big twins in my stash, but of course, it's the one I'll keep because it matches the year of my boat. I'll most likely fix up these old Larks and sell them.

HighTrim · Nov 5, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

I just finished up with a 58 Lark myself that was missing the cowl. Searched high and low for one, finally found one through a local member but had to pay for it!

The only bad thing about them is lugging them up and down the stairs to my basement where I like to work on them, especially in the winter. They are heavy bears!

Mas · Nov 5, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Sweet...get them going over the winter!

mas

1946Zephyr · Nov 5, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Yea, I hear ya there. I just packed my big Johnson out from below and hung it on the back of my boat last weekend. This one is a long shaft, with both the starter and generator. That's about as heavy as a '59 RDS model gets. LOL

These Larks are short shaft with starters mounted, but still almost as heavy.

1946Zephyr · Nov 5, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Well, I got the ghostly trio home a while ago. The three look like they're in good useable condition, but just need to be cleaned up and tuned. The '58 has the nicest looking paint, but it appears to be stuck. I'm betting that is just from sitting. The paint on the powerhead looks almost new. LOL

The two 40's still have J4J spark plugs in them, so I'm guessing that they haven't been in use for many years or tuned. They do turn over good and have good compression though. It doesn't look like it'll take much to get them to run. I'll post some more pics tomorrow.

Update: The 35 is now unstuck. As I thought, it was just from sitting. I should have at least one of these running tomorrow.

Gas Giant · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Man that's awesome! And unfair! I've been looking for a parts motor for my Lark III, and from what I can tell, there isn't one for sale withing 200 miles of me!

Good luck with the motors, good score!

1946Zephyr · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Yea, I'm kinda shocked myself. I got all three of these for $50 and it looks like I can get all three to run. The '58 Lark and the '61 just need a coil each and I can get life to the ignition system. All three look as though they've been treated decent since day one. Niether one look like they've ever overheated. The '58 has the best paint out of all three. The Lark III looks really good too, but will need more greases removed. LOL The Lark IV had a critter nest over the cylinder area and some of the paint is destroyed, but It turns over and has good compression. I'm going to do a compression test on all three today and dig into them more, so I have a fun day ahead.

Gas Giant · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Sounds great! Hope they work out well for you.

If you decide you want to donate that Lark III to a good cause......

J/K

1946Zephyr · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Well, it just so happens I got the ignition back to life on the Lark III and ready to fire it up. So far, I'm in the first two motors for zero dollars and zero cents to get them back to life.

I got the 35 running today and ran it for about an hour. I was amazed that I didn't even work up a sweat to get it started. The starter was stuck, so I just hand started it. It only took about 3 pulls. After I ran it, I took a compression test and got 130 psi on each hole, with 6 pulls on the rope. Hell, that's better than my '59 Johnson.

Mas · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Great find! Do you have a boat to run it on?

Mas

1946Zephyr · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Well, I do have a boat, but my '59 Johnson RDS has already taken the spot on the transome.

It's the same year as my boat and it's a long shaft. These three Larks are all short shaft, so I'll need different boats to kit them up with.
I'll be liesurely looking for good deals on runabouts on trailors, in need of motors in the future. I could have brought home a free boat yesterday, when I bought these Larks, but the trailor was in too bad of shape to tow it 100 miles.

I see cheap or free boats all the time, so I'll just wait around.

12vMan · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Cool find! Good luck getting them seaworthy.

1946Zephyr · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Yea, I'll reseal the lower units and replace the impellers as I kit them up with boats, that way new impellers won't sit and go bad. So far everything is good good. There's a good chance I'll have two running motors without spending a dime. I'm out of coils though, so I hope the Lark IV has new coils in it already.

samo_ott · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

$50? What a frigging deal! It just shows that you gotta watch the ads every day!

Gotta love it when those deals come up!

I was running my '62 Lark IV all summer. Quite a quiet engine actually! Had it on my '59 Feathercraft Ranger...

1946Zephyr · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Yea, these two that I have, are pretty state of the art machines for the time. Automatic Choke? Pretty cool stuff for the years. How many cars had that? LOL

Yea, what I saw in the guys ad was for a free boat and trailor with the '58 Lark laying in the boat. I told him that I wasn't interested in the boat, but would give him some cash for the old motor. He then added the Lark III and IV to the deal and basically told me to take them off his hands. I got the '58 Lark running today, for a zero dollar investment. It just needed a coil and the ignition system cleaned up. It has the best compression of any motor I ever had here. It took only about three pulls to start it and that's with the carburetor untouched.

samo_ott · Nov 6, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

I cant believe you pull started it cold. With never having it run before... Amazing... I've never pull started anything bigger than a 25 cold. Yeah, my '62 has the auto choke and it works well

I did not touch the carb on it either... I hate doing carb work on the bigger engines as you have to take off the elec starter first

And even worse are the ones with the generator also... Ugh...

I woulda taken the boat and trailer also!

I got a free one last week. They were asking $400 boat, motor and trailer. Said the engine was toast. I get there and it's a E60hp they said had a burnt piston. There also a spare J50 in the boat with a hole in the block. After I pointed out all the problems and issues with the engines, boat and trailer, they asked me to take it away for free... Well... duh... ok

And it towed home 45 min ok. Here's a pic of it after I got it home.

1946Zephyr · Nov 7, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

Cool. Yea, that boat doesn't look too much different from the boat I could have got.

Yea, hand startin' a big twin is a blast. I just grab the handle with both hands and make sure there's nothing behind me to smack my knuckles on.

Once it's warm, I can start one with a single hand. Back when I was more of an animal, I actually started a Fat Fifty by hand and that was after I ran the battery dead before hand. LOL Wouldn't try that now though. I'm gettin too old, fat and lazy.

I found that they can start pretty good cold, if the ignition is up to snuff.

I think after cleaning these old buggers up, they'll be good runners. The '61 Lark III still has the old J4J plugs in it. First time I ever seen one. They both spark good, so it should fire, once I get some gas in the carb. The '58 and the "61 each had one bad coil and I happened to have had two good used coils and put in them, so I haven't hed to spend a dime yet for parts. If I get the third one running without any investment, then I might have to have a party.

jmendoza · Nov 7, 2011

Re: You guys are gonna love this.

So you decided to get these on a "lark" did you?

pun intended.

The 1954 CD-11 that was given to me and I restored came with a free Evinrude Lark as well, but I didn't have a boat it would fit on, plus they are big and heavy so I turned it down. There was also a Johnson 35 I did not take either, again, too big for me.

You guys are gonna love this.

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